Boy, The Amazing Race is WAY better than Survivor

[FormerDittoHead]

My wife and I were on vacation when the first 2 Survivor episodes came on. At the end of that first season, I was working late and had to talk my wife how to tape a show over the phone. (I'm not talking program the VCR, I'm talking just RECORD. I stayed up until 1 AM to see the finish...

OK, anyway, the point is that I'm not one of these, "reality TV is stupid, I never got the point, I hate Survivor, etc."

No, I really LIKE reality TV. I liked "For Love or Money", "Joe Millionaire", I even like the new "Martha Stewart Apprentice"...

BUT, IMO, Survivor has "jumped the shark". Everything is a cliche. Everything is "set up". Everything is "managed". What's worst, I just don't care anymore. At the very least they could bump up the prize (come on, how much money are these guys making that they can't give away FIVE million dollars?)

So, S*I*X minutes into The Amazing Race last night, I turn to my wife and I say, "Boy, this is a LOT better than Survivor!". She turns back and says, "You know, if you don't want to watch Survivor anymore that's OK..."

The interaction between the Amazing Race team members is GREAT and, IMO, there's much more drama seeing "regular" people do "extreme" things, and especially hard to seem them REALLY pay the consequences if they don't succeed.

Lastly, the latter parts of the shows. OK, at the end, The Amazing Race does this "James Bond" editing where you (usually) can't really tell the loser until the very end. I'll take that ANY DAY over the "grand misdirection" the last 25 minutes of Survivor takes. Basically, whoever you're *supposed* to think will get voted off WON'T be, and I feel I've just wasted the latter part of the hour with the false surprise. How many seasons am I supposed to sit through it withOUT figuring out I'm being "used"?

SOMETIMES, reality is boring, predictable, gruelingly awkward, etc. If Survivor wants me back, they should stop with all the "twists" and "surprises" and serve up some REALITY. It would really be refreshing...

[Phentex]

1. Time will tell for the Amazing Race....

but yes, I think Survivor is too predictable now. I didn't like the editing on this episode of AR though. Sure, it's exciting at the end to see who lands on the mat first but if you've been watching for long you can figure out their tricks (fake surprises) as well.

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. Plus, NICE people win.

You can see how much kindness and respect for other cultures is valued over meanness.

[lazarus]

3. Hah

Care for me to list the number of incidents of disrespect for other cultures we've seen over the seasons?

Both shows are great, and they're completely different.

[philosophie_en_rose]

4. You don't have to bring up Jonathan, Colin, etc.

I know that they're jerks and that a good percentage of racers have been insensitive or snotty.

However, it's still a testament to the show that people like Chip and Kim and Uchenna and Joyce are even on the show.

You won't see racers pulling down their pants for chocolate and peanut butter.

[lazarus]

6. And we've

Only seen that once on Survivor.

Uchenna and Joyce, though? Don't get me started on those two self-righteous hypocrites. The edit those two got was beyond belief. Luckily, they self-destructed in their post-Race interviews, so people could see what they're really like. (Hint: If you want to be considered the "good people", it's best not to call yourself that in comparison to others on the race.)

Chip and Kim were good people, though. Lots of good people on TAR. Lots of bad people, too. The point is, the race doesn't require one to be "bad" or to do bad things. No dishonesty is necessary at all.

Survivor does require one to do bad things, generally. It's virtually impossible to win Survivor without being dishonest. Just like poker or any other of a thousand games. That doesn't make the game bad.

Oh, and I was specifically going to refer to KKKendra and Lynn and Alex, the most bigoted of the racers. Jonathon is an asshat, but Colin was just too intense.

And I'll bet you money that Racers would indeed pull down their pants for a roadblock or a fast forward with a million dollars at stake.

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. Survivor's not a bad game.

It's just a boring one at this point - in my opinion at least. I use to really enjoy it, but it's gotten really old.

I don't mind the backstabbing on Survivor, actually. I'm more disgusted with the "I'm your bestest friend and I'm going to sacrifice a million dollars for "ethics" and "friendsheep." I only watched the last few episodes last season, so I didn't really care about the survivors. However, I was just flabbergasted. Wouldn't a true friend be happy for YOU and be a good sport? meh.

And don't get me started on Big Brother.



I'm sorry to read that Uchenna and Joyce were editted so much. At least Kim and Chip were good people, though.


As for the pants dropping, the good thing about the Amazing Race is that it makes people make some hard choices without having to do stuff like that. Like hair cutting.

[dr.strangelove]

8. I had a hard time cheering for any of the final four last Survivor

This year I like a few more people, which for me makes the show more fun. I enjoyed last season because of the ass kicking one tribe gave the other, but the people I enjoyed left early. Survivor is all about the people.

[dr.strangelove]

5. I hate this season of TAR, and I disagree about Survivor

I too am a HUGE "reality TV" fan. I enjoy watching several reality shows, and prior to this season the top of the list was TAR and Survivor. I fell for TAR in season 2 and have watched it every season since. However, this year I watched the first few episodes of family TAR and really did not enjoy it. That said, I will watch it again next season. TAR is still a great show, I just don't like the family idea this season.

On survivor: I don't think it has jumped the shark. Unless you count Africa, which was a terrible season. This season is better than the last few. I love the teams, I love the early switch. It seems that the early switch finally broke down original tribal alliances and shook up the teams. We wil see now that it is individual immunity and a merged tribe if that holds true.

[lazarus]

9. The joy of Survivor

is that they can have endless variations by resetting back to the original game at the end of each season, then coming up with twists from there.

With few exceptions, nothing has "broken" the game at all. And, of course, it's primarily the casting that does it.

I will say location can greatly affect the game. I think Africa would have been a much better season had it been on an island. Good cast, but they were stuck just hanging around the boma, not hunting or fishing or anything. Nothing to do, it was like Big Brother outdoors. Ick.